Archive for the 'Kyuss' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

September 28th, 2011, 1:45 am by BEN WENER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

There are already yuletide decorations on sale at Target. Why shouldn't there also be holiday shows going on sale before Oct. 1?

Three become available this weekend, in fact, the biggest of all coming from Brian Setzer Orchestra, back for another extravaganza at Gibson Amphitheatre on Dec. 17. (This year's special is dubbed "Christmas Rocks!") For those keeping track, that likely means that KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas weekend at the Universal CityWalk venue will be Dec. 10-11.

Part of this year's BSO package is a set-within-a-set from Setzer's Rockabilly Riot. Tickets, $15-$99.75, go on sale Friday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. (The program repeats Dec. 18 at the California Theatre of the Performing Arts in San Bernardino, $38.50-$77.50.)

Meanwhile, the Pantages Theatre will host The Christmas Music of Mannheim Steamroller by Chip Davis on Nov. 25, $40-$85, on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. And American Idol runner-up David Archuleta is really making a habit out of spreading a joyous noel at City National Grove of Anaheim, as he'll do it for the third year in a row on Dec. 17, $35-$45, on sale Friday at 10 a.m. (Also catch him Dec. 14 at Club Nokia, $29.50-$39.50, on sale at the same time.)

Back to Gibson for a moment, 'cause there are a few new Latin music additions at the venue that specializes in such shows: Spanish singer-songwriter Enrique Bunbury and Mexican alt-rock band Zoé will co-headline on Nov. 17, $29.75-$149.75, on sale Friday at 1 p.m., while Dec. 2 brings Hot Chicano Soul Legends Winter Wonder Jam, featuring Thee Midniters (with Willie G), Malo, Tierra and more of the usual suspects, $20-$65, on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.

Dozens of new shows are going on sale this weekend but a majority of the biggest ones were already announced weeks ago. So let's start with a few that are brand spankin' new.

Thought Kings of Leon's Coachella set would be the quartet's last appearance for a while? Think again. They still have their fifth album (Come Around Sundown) to promote, which they will do via a summer tour that launches in the South in July and reaches Southern California right around Labor Day. With Band of Horses as supporting act, the Kings will play Sept. 4 at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista and Sept. 8 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. Check back for on-sale info.

Meanwhile, Maroon 5 and Train have teamed for a co-headlining outing that kicks off July 22 at Cricket and stops July 25 at the Hollywood Bowl. Gavin DeGraw will open. Tickets for the Chula Vista show, $32-$92.50, are on sale Saturday at 10 a.m., while the Bowl gig, $25.50-$105.50, goes on sale Monday at 10 a.m.

And though we've been lax in reporting this -- put it down to post-Coachella fatigue -- by now you've likely heard that Rage Against the Machine will once more resurface to play somewhere in the greater Los Angeles area on July 30, in a bill also including Muse and Rise Against. More details when we know 'em.

Nobody at L.A.'s intimately structured Club Nokia could avoid the free-wheelin' spirit of the Southern California desert that radiated unremittingly from the all-too-cocky grin fixed on Josh Homme's face throughout Them Crooked Vultures' set Wednesday night. During band member introductions, the frontman's devious hubris reached a peak.

"I'm from the desert. I'm Joshua," Homme quipped, asserting his eminent position of royalty at Coachella this weekend -- which can't be much refuted, considering Joshua Tree and the surrounding territory has been his creative stomping grounds since the days of his first band, Kyuss.

But the Queens of the Stone Age king made no mention of the festival until the introduction of the final mind-bending ballad, "Warsaw."

"Anyone going to Coachella?" An overwhelming majority screamed in affirmation.

It took a full decade for Dexter and Noodles and Greg K. to make an album worthy of placing on the shelf next to '90s giants like Smash and Americana. Their other efforts in the '00s, Conspiracy of One (better than average despite “Original Prankster”) and the decidedly mediocre Splinter (a retread right down to its minor hit “Hit That”), were the sound of a dead tired band running out of steam. Then came “Hammerhead,” their hardest-hitting mosh-inducer in years, followed by an album that rebuilt muscle (even as Dexter's body seemed to have expanded) while wisely staying lean on gag tracks (“You're Gonna Go Far, Kid” is “Original Prankster” done right, shaming Fall Out Boy at their own racket). Finally, they have their heads back in the game.